Thermoplastic Laminate and Cordierite/Indialite Glass-Ceramic Hybrid Package for 15-GHz Operated Antennas

Abstract

This work describes novel antenna package a combination of a 4-element array and a lens antenna performing the gain of 13.5 dBi, the bandwidth of 1 GHz and the total efficiency of 72% at 15 GHz. The 2x2 elements array antenna was designed and fabricated using square patches with substrate through vias and a capacitive feeding on the novel dielectric substrate combination: thermoplastic laminate and cordierite/indialite glass-ceramic. The ceramic substrate was selected regarding its impressive dielectric properties a relative permittivity of 6.3 and a quality factor Qf 55,400 GHz. The array antenna performed with reflection coefficient -20dB over the bandwidth. The cascaded array with an extended hemispherical lens antenna enhanced the gain into the certain direction with narrow beamwidth properties. The packaged antenna is demonstrated for the 5G telecommunication systems especially where low losses, high temperature resistance and high temperature stability are required.